PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia property owners will be in for some sticker shock when they get new tax assessments in the coming months and available online in the next few weeks.
Officials say values increased 21% citywide since the last assessments three years ago, but the city is now putting more money into relief measures to soften the blow.
The new assessments will raise total property tax payments by $92 million next year, according to Finance Director Rob Dubow. However, all of that additional money will be used to reduce residents’ overall tax burden.
“We understand that capturing what’s happened in the market over the last few years will have an impact on taxpayers, and we want to protect them from that,” he said.
Revenue commissioner Frank Breslin said no resident should worry about losing their home to tax foreclosure.
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"The city has created some of the most progressive programs in the country to protect homeowners from tax bills increasing due to rapidly escalating market values, precisely for this type of situation created by current market conditions," he said.
For homeowners, those programs include the homestead exemption for those who live in the homes they own; the Longtime Owner Occupants Program (LOOP) for low-income homeowners who see a sudden, sharp increase in value; the Low-Income Senior Citizen Real Estate Tax Freeze; and various payment programs, including a zero-dollar-a-month plan for the most vulnerable homeowners.
Some of the money will also go to a reduction in the wage tax.
"The combined impact of all of those relief measures account for all additional revenue generated by the increased assessments," said Dubow.
Jim Engler, the mayor’s chief of staff, said it’s a long-overdue strategy.
“Over the last 30 years or so, trying to get away from the wage tax has been the recommendation of experts far and wide,” he said. “As we saw through the pandemic, it is a tax that is volatile.”
City Council challenged the last assessments in 2019 but issued a statement that seems to accept the accuracy of the assessments. It too puts the emphasis on getting homeowners into programs to mitigate the impact.
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